CALGARY- The 2019 Canada West season marks the 25th anniversary of Mount Royal women's soccer. This season the team is hungry for success to mark this special year, and looking to get their name solidified in U SPORTS.

Prior to joining U SPORTS in 2012, the Mount Royal women's soccer program was a seasonal powerhouse at the college level under the Alberta Collegiate Athletic Conference (ACAC).

The Cougars saw eight conference titles since the birth of the women's program in 1994, including a monstrous run during early 2000s that saw five conference championships ('00,'01,'03,'04,'07).

Mount Royal had two years remaining in the ACAC when current bench boss Tino Fusco took over the helm.

The Cougars reached the championship game in their last two years of ACAC play before transitioning into the U SPORTS level with Fusco. 

"Every year there's been significant achievements reached. It shows the program grew on the pitch and in the classroom as the years went on," says Fusco.

The Cougars won two matches during their first year in university competition in 2012. Since then, the program has set a higher bar each season. 

Heading into his 10th season as head coach, Fusco led the Cougars to their most successful season last fall with a 6-6-2 record - achieving the program's highest point total since since joining U SPORTS.  .

"We've had our growing pains for sure, but it's proven we're getting better every year. That's part of our motto. We want to be better today than we were yesterday...we want to learn from our mistakes and continue to grow every day.

I do feel we're moving in the right direction. We keep moving and it's important for me because I see that the next season grows on the success of the seasons previous."

Fusco's program recruited its first international student-athlete in 2014 and continues to attract international talent on a yearly basis, bringing in players from places like England and New Zealand. The program is set to bring in talent from Brazil in 2020.

Coach Fusco collects match balls from historic seasons to display in his office. So far the collection includes balls from achievements such as the first season MRU qualified to playoffs to last year's record breaking season.

Pointing to his historic display, Fusco says, "We're still looking for more. I challenge them to be a part of history every season. I challenge them to be a part of a legacy while the program is still in its early stages... to be a legendary Mount Royal Cougar.

We encourage recruits and the younger players to look into our history. A big part of our program is to see who wore the jersey before you and motivates the players to leave a greater legacy behind. We haven't won a national championship, for example, we aspire them to be the next person to make a difference on campus and on the pitch while wearing the MRU Cougars logo."

The drive and motivation also applies outside of the pitch. 

Players need to have a desire to come to Mount Royal. As for most varsity coaches, being a student is more important than being a better player.

Fusco's squad in 2017 achieved its highest collective GPA average at a stellar 3.72.

The standard of having a team full of academics from top to bottom isn't an expectation. Willingly, the players excel in the classrooms which grow the culture of being premier student-athletes on campus.

"I get excited about new players every year just because the quality of player gets better every fall. They're also becoming better students.

We've had at least 10 U SPORTS Academic All-Canadians in the last five years during my time here. That shows I'm bringing in the right people to the program, but they're also better as soccer players."

In 2017, 19 Cougars women's soccer players touted All-Canadians rewards. Last year, 16 received the honours.

Fusco continues: "A lot of them want to get into the high demanding programs here at Mount Royal and they have the marks to do it so they already challenge themselves off the pitch and that's exciting for me."

According to Fusco, leaving a lasting impact on the women's soccer program as varsity athletes is still a value that he wants to instill in his program for the years to follow.

"We have players who move onto exceptional things after their time here which to me is the biggest proof of success. The players don't get enough recognition for that. We don't set a set standard which again, just shows how the mindset of dedication our players possess." 

Believe it or not, making the pros isn't the end game. 

"It's tough in the women's game," says Fusco.

"We're not strong in that area just because we have so many players moving on to their masters and chase the next level in life."

The challenge of not having a list of graduates who went on to the pro level is a growing area Fusco wants to improve on, but that isn't a worry since the culture at Mount Royal pushes players to succeed in every aspect of life and using Cougars soccer as its vehicle.

"There has to be a passion at this level. The want and desire to succeed under an MRU kit while growing themselves as people through the program is something we push our players to believe in."

Catch the Cougars in action at Mount Royal field this fall, starting with their home opener this Saturday, September 14 at 1:00 PM MST or watch it live on canadawest.tv.



Written by Daniel Khavkin